TOWER OF BABEL.COM

We went for one rural rugged (village outreach) when I was serving. It was held in Ebukuma, a village under Andonin Local Government in Rivers State. As usual, we went around the village for our Victory March. The village children joined us in glee and raised some songs in their language. At a point they sang:

"Awaji owo gbe eh
Awaji owo gbe
Awaji owo gbe eh
Awaji owo gbe"

I was not sure I heard rightly, so I asked one of them to repeat the song for me. Behold, I heard correctly. I couldn't laugh. In their language, the song means:

"Lord You are worthy eh
Lord you are worthy
Lord You are worthy eh
Lord you are worthy"

Now, if you sing that song in public in Lagos, Nigeria, you might get the best beating of your life that day from an angry mob. This is because in Yoruba (which is my language), the song means:

"We have stolen money eh
We have stolen money
We have stolen money eh
We have stolen money"

  Isn't it funny how 'A' in one language might mean 'B' in another? No wonder there was a lot of fight at the Tower of Babel.